For proper operation of electrical power grid systems, electricity production and electricity consumption should be fairly balanced. A significant imbalance in electricity production/consumption may lead to grid failure. Demand Response (DR) may refer to the changes in electric usage by end-use customers from their normal consumption patterns in response to changes in the price of electricity over time. DR may typically be aimed at reducing peak demand to reduce the risk of potential disturbances, and to avoid use of more expensive and/or less efficient operating plants. DR programs may offer incentives to electricity users to reduce their power usage in response to a utility provider's need for power due to a high, system-wide demand for electricity or emergencies that may affect the power grid. Alternatively, DR programs may offer incentives to electricity users to provide energy back to the power grid.
Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) is a term which may be used to describe a system and or method in which plug-in electric vehicles, such as battery electric cars (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) (hereinafter PHEVs), communicate with the power grid in order to sell DR services by providing power back to the power grid or by modifying their charging rate. V2G systems may utilize the excess battery storage capacity in the PHEVs to help stabilize the power grid. For example, V2G systems may communicate with a PHEV so that the PHEV may be recharged during off-peak hours at cheaper rates while helping to absorb excess night time electrical generation when overall demand is lower, where the electric vehicles may serve as a distributed battery storage system to buffer power. V2G systems may communicate with PHEVs to send excess battery storage capacity in the PHEVs back to the power grid. This may help to stabilize the power grid during high-peak times and minimize potential rolling blackouts during high-peak times. Using the electrical storage capabilities of electric vehicles has the potential mitigating the need to build additional generating plants to handle peak loading.
While there are many potential benefits to utilizing electric vehicles in a V2G system for DR, there may be difficulty in determining the available load for a particular utility provider due to the fact that several different utility providers may service the same zip code. For example, even if a PHEV is located within a specific zip code, that PHEV may not be able to provide energy to the particular utility provider in need (e.g. Pacific Gas and Electric Company) because the PHEV may be located in a different utility provider's area (e.g. Southern California Edison) within that zip code. Even if a PHEV is located within the specific zip code and is a customer of the particular utility provider issuing the DR, the PHEV may be located too far from the area where power may be needed to be to provide back to the electrical grid.
It would thus be desirable to provide a system and method that enables a more accurate calculation of available V2G load for a specific utility provider that may be provided by PHEVs located within a specific area of a zip code designated to that utility provider.